The invention offers a device that can be used to fix a ruptured or cracked opening on the surface of a pipe. Until this time, most devices for repairing leaky pipes required the manipulation of many tools requiring special skills to effect the repair, therefore making most devices inconvenient for home use or by the unskilled. Frequently, the apparatus could not be placed without draining the pipe. Further, the design of these earlier apparati did not always allow the repair of leaks situated on difficult to access areas of pipe systems such as pipes located close to a wall or other places. The present invention allows such leaks in pipes to be repaired.
Various types of pipe repair clamps have been known in the past. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,279,642 to Schreiner, which discloses a means for repairing broken pipes. Unfortunately, Schreiner was designed to accommodate a pipe of fixed diameter, and is distinguishable from the Applicant's apparatus, which is fully adjustable, and capable of accommodating a wide variety of pipe diameters and resulting cracks or ruptures. Thus, where distributors, home owners or customers would have to retain a wide variety of devices of different diameters to accommodate different pipe sizes, Applicant's apparatus makes it necessary to inventory only one product, creating substantial inventory savings for distributors or retail outlets. Likewise, the customer can be prepared for a plumbing emergency by purchasing one device instead of the innumerable others of various sizes that he would have to otherwise.
Moreover, because of the complete adjustability of the device, it can be used to repair pipes, hoses and tubing of any diameter, and is not restricted to pipe, hoses and tubing of standard sizes.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,651,094 to Dodge, U.S. Pat. No. 2,908,061 to Adams, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,977,995 to Walpole, are likewise distinguishable because they do not provide a full range of adjustability for different pipe, hose or tubing diameters as does the Applicant's apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,155,574 to Hulsey, teaches a way to fit a wider variety of pipe diameters, but is intended only to couple two pipes together, not repair a ruptured or broken pipe.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,078 to Montgomery, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,278,714 to Stauffer, each suggest means for repairing broken pipe, but both are more cumbersome and complicated to use, requiring the use of more specialized tools, and would be difficult for an unskilled person or homeowner to quickly apply.